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en-usTue, 03 Mar 2015 13:53:34 -0500Tue, 03 Mar 2015 13:53:34 -0500NBC Owned Television StationsTue, 25 Mar 2014 11:36:12 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/air-pollution-AP7004221649_7.jpgClick to see some fascinating images of air pollution throughout the US from the 1920s to the 1970s.

Photo Credit: AP]]>Mon, 05 Aug 2013 12:37:08 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/128401773.jpgA car wash in Arizona installed a water filtration tank allowing high levels of oxygen to sanitize the water they use to clean customers' cars — all without soap. An environmental engineer at Arizona State University is skeptical about the car wash's filtration system.]]>Wed, 17 Jul 2013 12:58:12 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/WRC_0000000003170932_722x406_37270083593.jpgDoor-to-door salesmen, telephone calls and direct mail, all trying to sell you electricity or natural gas. The pitches promise to save you money. They are called alternative energy suppliers. There have been more than 1,000 consumer complaints about them to Maryland and D.C. authorities so far this year, and we've been receiving emails asking whether these companies are real and are the deals worth it. CLICK HERE for a list of legitimate suppliers.]]>Wed, 01 May 2013 14:13:33 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/Slide_aweber.jpgAWeber Communications headquarters in Chalfont, Bucks County, Pa. isn't your average workplace as it features video games, a pool table and even slides. NBC10's Jesse Gary reports ahead of the ribbon cutting.Click here for information on jobs

Photo Credit: NBC10]]>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:42:18 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/160*120/ben+in+trash.JPGWith his castoff treasures rattling in the cart, Ben Cowden wheeled back toward his art studio in San Francisco's Recology Recycling Plant to continue work. Joe Rosato Jr. reports on a man who turns others trash into treasure. Read the full story here.

Photo Credit: Getty Images]]>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:49:39 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/baxter-brewing.jpgLuke Livingston, president and founder of Baxter Brewing Company, talks about ways in which he is expanding his business sustainably, with the help of John Rooks, president of The SOAP Group.]]>Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:49:47 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/traffic-4.jpgWashington, D.C. has the worst traffic congestion in the nation, according to a new report from the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.]]>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:49:30 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/UCONNFUELPIC_722x406_2227487438.jpg

UConn is reducing its carbon footprint with a new fuel cell.

The University joined United Technologies Power and the state's Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority to unveil the 400-kilowatt lean, green, carbon-fighting machine at the Mansfield Depot campus Thursday.

The fuel cell will reduce UConn's carbon dioxide output by 600,000 pounds. That's the equivalent of planting 192 acres of trees, removing 110 cars off the road, and saving nearly 3.9 million gallons of water each year, according to the school. It will also provide electricity, heat, and cooling to university research labs and offices.

“Basically we use natural gas without combustion and it produces electricity, heat, and water with very very low emissions,” said Richard Shaw of UTC Power.

But this cell is not just giving power. For students, it's giving something else – the opportunity to study the fuel cell in the hopes of improving on the technology for the future.
“We can use this model as we move forward with an initiative in the legislature on microgrids. When the power goes down in the state, fuel cells provide that power,” said Sen. Don Williams, (D) President Pro-Tem.
The cost of the fuel cell is between $3 million and $4 million, according to the Dean of Engineering at UConn. A federal stimulus grant from the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority will cover $1 million of the costs.

]]>Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:20:39 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/143072279.jpgJust because you like to recycle doesn't mean others do. How can you talk to people about their green habits without sounding like a nag? Watch how to be environmentally friendly without offending your friends! For more exclusive videos go to iVillage.com

Photo Credit: Getty Images/PhotoAlto]]>Fri, 30 Jan 2015 01:38:26 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/greenschoolpic_722x406_2223331881.jpgHenry Abbott Tech in Danbury is the latest school that to be installing the panels after winning Connecticut Light and Power's Live Green-Win Green contest.]]>Fri, 18 Apr 2014 15:40:29 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/greenuniversal.jpg]]>Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:30:34 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/recyclekidsgreen_722x406_2221795961.jpgYou may think that teaching your kids how to recycle is difficult, but it may be easier than you think. Turning disposable trash into reusable items is a great way to help the environment. iVoices Beth Engelman, Sharon Rowley, Amanda Rodriguez and Brandi Jeter sit down with Kelly Wallace to discuss ways to encourage kids to recycle. Find out what tips and tricks work to help kids reuse and reduce waste. For more exclusive videos like these go to iVillage.com]]>Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:04:35 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/etrailhead+QR+codes.jpg

You probably have seen funny looking black and white blocks called QR codes popping up in stores and restaurants. Now, you can find them in the middle of the forest.

Marty Gosselin, from the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, said the way to hikers receive information is changing.

"As we move through different forms of digital media, it's really important to stay with the times and do what people are using most. Smart phones seem to be the way to go because everyone's got one," Gosselin said.

QR codes work by downloading a QR reader application on your smart phone and then holding your phone's camera up to the code.

The Forest and Park Association has put QR codes at four different trail heads, including the Mattabessett Trail in Middlefield, Seven Falls State Park and Brooks Road in Middletown, and the Shenipsit Trail at Risley Pond in Bolton.

Getting information about trails and maps to hikers is important, Eric Hammerling, the executive director of the Forest and Park Association, said.

"Even though we do all the appropriate things to keep them well-blazed, there are other trails that cut across them and there are places that people can get disoriented," Hammerling said.

Gosselin said the initial response from a test launch at Higby Mountain in Middletown was huge.

"Without publicizing it at all, within the first two weeks we had 150 hits," she said.

The Connecticut Forest and Park Association maintains 825 miles of blue blazed hiking trails across the state.

All the trails are open to the public and remember to bring a map, or in some cases now, remember to bring your smart phone.

A Halliburton executive took a sip of fracking fluid, in an effort to show the controversial process of injecting chemicals deep into bedrock to push out natural gas is safe.

Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar had a fellow executive take a sip of CleanStim, a concoction he says can be safely used for hydraulic fracturing while at a conference held by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association. Critics have said fluids used in the process contain chemicals that leach into the water table and contaminate drinking water, rivers, lakes and streams.

Environmentalists applauded the effort - to a point.

"I thought if this stuff was so benign, why wouldn't the CEO drink it himself?" Environmental Defense Fund's Mark Brownstein, who attended, told The Associated Press. "[But] quite honestly, a homeowner in Pennsylvania doesn't have the option of having an underling drink his water. He has to do it himself."

The process gained notoriety in the documentary "Gasland," and critics say the industry is secretive about what chemicals are used and what effect it has on the environment.

Most natural gas wells in the U.S. are fracked, and the oil and gas industry has spent big on an ad campaign touting the abundance of the fuel and the relative safety of extracting it. The fluid used has several types of chemicals, and the industry claims engineers have found more benign substitutes, said Colorado State University environmental engineering professor Ken Carlson, who also attended the conference.

"The thing I took away is the industry is stepping up to plate and taking these concerns seriously," Carlson said. "Halliburton is showing they can get the same economic benefits or close to that by putting a little effort into reformulating the fluids."

Kids are working down on the farm in Bloomfield and learning the in and outs of gardening as part of the summer education program at the picturesque Auer Farm.

Instructor Susan Van Kleef knows her way around a garden, but she is teaching from a scientific angle.

"It's sort of a science enrichment program along with the goal of having them appreciate gardening," the veteran teacher said.

The campers do whatever needs to be done in the garden: harvest, plant, weed and water.

They've studied processes, including photosynthesis and pollination, and conducted chemistry experiments on the soil and its nutrients out in the beauty of nature's classroom.

"They probably absorb it better. They can explain it better, understand it better. It seems more motivating to them and enriching to them to learn it that way," Van Kleef said.

Brendan Shepard, an eighth grader, doesn't shy away from science. He's just surprised at how much of it is involved in tending a healthy garden.

"It kind of opens your eyes about how complicated this can be even though it looks really simple," the student from Canton said.

The campers harvest the vegetables they grow, plus some of the blueberries in the patch across the 120 acre farm and cook part of their afternoon snack.

"On Monday we made pickles, Tuesday we made blueberry muffins, yesterday we made pizza," Rachel Leibin, a sixth grader from West Hartford, said.

Armed with new-found expertise, Brendan has high hopes that he'll finally get a garden plot of his own at his Canton home.

"I've been trying to get that for a couple years, but my dad said 'when you're a little older and I know that you're good enough', so after this probably, yeah," he said.

]]>Thu, 28 Jul 2011 07:01:41 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/gardening_722x406_2071998650.jpgNature is the classroom for students at a science-enrichment program in Bloomfield. They are learning the science of gardening.]]>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:23:52 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/ecycingeventstill_722x406_1897064410.jpgCars streamed into two locations as people turned in old electronic devices to be recycled Saturday.]]>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:19:26 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/steam_engine_042211_722x406_1893790479.jpgA company is testing a steam engine they say is compact, powerful and more efficient than a internal combustion engine.]]>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:18:07 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/light_off_042111_722x406_1893790595.jpgAs Americans tried to find ways to save money, energy use decreased, according to a new survey.]]>Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:57:11 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/starburst_promdress_042011_722x406_1890866038.jpgTara Frey's outfit for the big dance took six years to make and is made almost entirely from candy wrappers.]]>Wed, 20 Apr 2011 10:28:06 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/electronic_recycling_042011_722x406_1890840208.jpgIf you want to get rid of an old TV, computer or other electronic device, there are better options than the landfill.]]>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:55:15 -0500http://media.nbcconnecticut.com/images/213*120/usedoil_722x406_1889557501.jpgThe used oil from the Key Hyundai service department heats their work area.]]>